With more control, communities choose clean energy

Aggregation saves money while meeting climate goals

By Darlene Lombos Clean Energy, Climate change, Energy, Municipal Government 0 Comments Feb 19, 2018

ACROSS MASSACHUSETTS, COMMUNITIES are taking control over where their energy comes from. By leveraging local bulk purchasing power, more than 100 towns and cities in the Bay State have increased the amount of renewable energy they buy each year, while at the same time producing savings for consumers. Community Choice Energy (CCE, also known as(...)

The Download/ Politics

Baker hits some turbulence

By CommonWealth Staff Charlie Baker, Clean Energy, Health Insurance, Northern Pass, Wynn Palace casino 3 Comments Feb 2, 2018

Suddenly, Gov. Charlie Baker doesn’t seem so invulnerable. He may still be the most popular governor in the country, but over the last few weeks Baker has hit some serious turbulence. An agency he controls botched the rollout of a new approach to health insurance for 430,000 state and municipal workers. Then his administration awarded(...)

Modernizing Mobility/ Tracking Transportation/ Environment/ Transportation/ Opinion

A question of access: Shifting the transportation conversation

Equity, climate, and choice are keys to developing a workable plan for the future

By Alice Brown Boston 2030, Clean Energy, Economy, Energy, Environment, Infrastructure, Massachusetts Department of Transportation, Taxes and Budget Issues, Transportation 0 Comments Jan 20, 2018

TRANSPORTATION AND MOBILITY matters to everyone who commutes, travels, or runs errands on a daily basis, and these everyday trips create a sense that we are all experts on transportation. For creative problem solvers, every traffic jam, transit delay, confusing intersection, or missing bike lane connection provides an opportunity to brainstorm possible solutions. But what(...)

Economy/ Energy/ Technology/ Winter 2018

How now cow power?

Cows providing fuel for electricity

By Chris Berdik Clean Energy, Electricity, Energy, Environment, farming, Western Massachusetts 0 Comments Jan 9, 2018

IN A RURAL valley south of Deerfield, power lines strung on new poles run along a stretch of muddy gravel between the main road and the interior of Bar-Way Farm, where hundreds of cows provide electricity along with their milk. Manure from the cows is pumped into a massive, red, airtight tank that acts like(...)

Energy/ Environment/ Opinion

More pipelines aren’t the answer

The weather outside is frightful – and so is our over-reliance on natural gas

By Greg Cunningham Clean Energy, Environment, Natural gas, Pipeline expansion 16 Comments Jan 6, 2018

NEW ENGLAND IS in the clutches of a frigid winter. This is putting demands on our energy resources and driving up electricity prices during the few hours of the day when consumer electricity use is highest. Concerns over these temporary price spikes are warranted, particularly given their impacts on our most vulnerable. But year after(...)

Economy/ Energy/ Environment/ Opinion

Time to revisit the need for more gas pipelines

Renewable energy cannot meet demand without help

By Carl Gustin Clean Energy, Energy, ISO-New England, Natural gas 3 Comments Jan 5, 2018

NEW ENGLAND’S GOVERNORS, who for years called for increasing the delivery capacity of natural gas into the region, have largely gone silent. Today, the region is seeing the consequences with Bloomberg reporting December 27 that “spot prices more than tripled … and turned the region into the world’s priciest market.” Natural gas prices last week(...)

Energy/ Environment/ Opinion

Businesses want stronger clean energy mandates

Corporations call on state to raise the renewable portfolio standard

By Cynthia Curtis business, Clean Energy, Environment, Massachusetts Legislature, Renewable energy 2 Comments Jan 2, 2018

FOR CENTURIES, MASSACHUSETTS has been a national hub for innovation. With cutting edge academic institutions, a superb health care sector, and a thriving real estate market, the commonwealth is an excellent place to do business. Massachusetts is also home to a rapidly growing clean energy sector, which has allowed commercial real estate service providers like(...)

Energy/ Environment/ Politics/ Opinion

Mass. citizens point the way on climate change

State leaders and policymakers need to get on same page as voters

By Jamie Eldridge and Emily Norton Clean Energy, Climate change, EPA, Governor Baker, Massachusetts Legislature, Renewable energy 1 Comment Oct 14, 2017

WE LIVE IN a time when the way we power our lives is literally putting our survival at stake. We’re seeing an increase in deadly natural disasters, glaciers melting at a worrisome rate, and American states and territories at risk of disappearing from the map due to rising sea levels. Yet the Trump administration seems(...)

Energy/ Environment

Northern Pass hits another obstacle

EPA calls for another 40 miles of proposed power line to go underground

By Jack Sullivan Clean Energy, Environment, Eversource, Hydro, Northern Pass 1 Comment Sep 29, 2017

THE TROUBLED NORTHERN PASS power line project was dealt another blow as the federal Environmental Protection Agency called for an additional 40-mile stretch of the transmission line to be buried underground rather than disrupting wetlands and wildlife through northern New Hampshire. In a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers, which is in charge of(...)

Energy/ Environment/ Technology

Cities and states must take lead on climate change

Policies can yield substantial health dividends

By Jonathan J. Buonocore, Aaron S. Bernstein and Jonathan I. Levy Carbon tax, Clean Energy, Climate change, Environment, Greenhouse gases, Municipal Government, pollution, State Government 1 Comment Jul 29, 2017

CLIMATE CHANGE CREATES risks that scientists have been warning about for decades. Fortunately, many actions that reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change and hedge against longer-term risks can also benefit public health right now. Reductions in greenhouse gas emissions often go hand in hand with reductions in air pollutants with well-established relationships(...)


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